Harper hurt in dugout fit
CINCINNATI - An ill-advised swing by a frustrated Bryce Harper resulted in a cut near his left eye and probably will keep him out of the Washington Nationals' lineup for a couple of games.
Harper, the 19-year-old phenom from Las Vegas, had a rough night in the Nationals' 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.
Harper was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, dropping his batting average to 233. After one of the outs, he returned to the dugout and swung his bat against one of the walls in the tunnel to the clubhouse.
According to manager Davey Johnson, the barrel of the bat bounced off the wall and hit Harper next to the left eye, causing a gash and welt. He stayed in the game with the cut bandaged, but was sent for treatment afterward because it was bleeding.
"He probably needs a stitch or two in it, so he'll be down for a couple of days," Johnson said. "That's what baseball players do - break bats, throw helmets in the runway. It's an easy way to get rid of your frustrations. I hear it a lot."
Roger Bernadina and Danny Espinosa each hit a two-run homer in one of Washington's biggest scoring splurges of the season.
The slow-starting Nationals had scored only three runs in the first inning all season. They had that many before making an out against Mike Leake (0-5).
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez (4-1) struck out a season-high nine batters - including six in a row - but lasted only five innings because of a high pitch count.
